Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

I have found what looks to be a very cheap GW store: http://www.wheregamesworkshopischeaper.co.uk/, however I am a bit suspicious. All the models they stock are very much under RRP, but it could just be me being paranoid.

They have GW at below retail price, and it is significantly cheaper for me (an Aussie resident) to purchase it from there and then pay for the shipping.
EG: 42 pounds for a battleforce, plus 8 for shipping, and convert to AUD = $110 or $40 off.
Has anyone had any experience buying from these guys, as its almost too good to be true.

Never bought from them but a big red flag for me is that there is no email, phone, or physical address listed anywhere.

I don't know if the conversion rate and shipping are ok from the US to AU but, if so, I highly recommend ChaosOrc.com. Excellent store, great communication, and their prices are cheaper than this (at least from UK->USD)

Can't say I've used that one. I have however used and been mighty impressed by http://www.giftsforgeeks.org.uk/ don't know how postage would work out for you but I've found them to be the cheapest online in britain.

the above link for wheregamesworkshopischeaper seems to not be functioning anymore.

cheapest i've used is http://www.railmodjunction.co.uk/index.html

no probs at all

i've often used http://www.buyforlessonline.co.uk/ very reliable and often very reasonable have some very good deals about

So I guess you all play in your own homes at your own tables? Gaming stores make very little money. Buying online means that many game stores are closing down... that means that cool place that lets you use the terrain and hang out with people won't be around very long if you buy online... Sure you are saving money immediately... but think of the LONG TERM COSTS. You will need to spend more money to travel to farther away stores when the close ones go out of business... Is saving $3 now on a vindicare assassin worth it when you have to pay $14 later every time you want to drive to the store that is 50 miles away?

Just my 2 cents

frgsinwntr wrote:So I guess you all play in your own homes at your own tables? Gaming stores make very little money. Buying online means that many game stores are closing down... that means that cool place that lets you use the terrain and hang out with people won't be around very long if you buy online... Sure you are saving money immediately... but think of the LONG TERM COSTS. You will need to spend more money to travel to farther away stores when the close ones go out of business... Is saving $3 now on a vindicare assassin worth it when you have to pay $14 later every time you want to drive to the store that is 50 miles away?

Just my 2 cents

My local is a game workshop and i do buy bits from there (usually to give me a fix), that said however why shouldn't I stretch my cash (a limited resource) if GW didn't make such a large mark up on thier product then online stores wouldn't be in the posistion to make such offers (besides which GW sell directly to these places so they are still making thier cut).

Well I can see you are in the UK. Most places here in the US are privately owned game stores. The GW stores are very far away most of the time. Example: I am in the middle of NJ, the most densely populated state in the US. The closest GW store is about an hour away. That means unless you are playing at home, or at a GW store, those smaller buisnesses are failing and won't be around for very long. It is the same arguement for not buying at walmart... sure it makes capitalistic sense to stretch your cash, but what happens to the local economy?

frgsinwnter:

Is saving $3 now on a vindicare assassin worth it when you have to pay $14 later every time you want to drive to the store that is 50 miles away?

Game theory tells us that this logic never works. I can buy all the RRP Vindicares I want, but still end up paying that extra $14 each time because everyone else wasn't a sucker like me. The rational thing (which != "the right thing," whatever that is) is to save whatever money you can, because whether or not your local closes down isn't something you as an individual can really control.

So.... you would feed the fire and say "everyone shop online" ?

Thus creating a system where there is no where to play except at home?

MY POINT IS: If you shop online, you shouldn't use the stores tables. You haven't contributed to the store, you are in effect stealing their space from players who do shop there. Everyone enjoys going to a store to hang out and get some games in... but if you aren't helping the store out by buying there but you are using the resources.... its a tragedy of the commons I suppose :(

No, I wouldn't actively encourage that (although I do like to play at home!). I am just pointing out that your reasoning is unlikely to convince. You can appeal to people's sense of fairness or, I dunno, duty, but you will not wean people off buying online by appealing to their wallets (which is basically what you were doing). In pure $$$ terms, buying online, for any one individual, is the "smart" thing to do.

I've just started buying WM Hordes stuff. As it happens my local doesn't stock this line, but if they did I wouldn't buy it there. Retail price for WM in the UK is a horrendous rip-off.

frgsinwntr wrote:So.... you would feed the fire and say "everyone shop online" ?

Thus creating a system where there is no where to play except at home?

MY POINT IS: If you shop online, you shouldn't use the stores tables. You haven't contributed to the store, you are in effect stealing their space from players who do shop there. Everyone enjoys going to a store to hang out and get some games in... but if you aren't helping the store out by buying there but you are using the resources.... its a tragedy of the commons I suppose :(

I agree.

Also for those of us who don't have a local game shop that carries GW or PP or Confrontation (the list goes on) it's our only option. Yeah we glean the savings, but if there was a shop here you can be damned sure I'd be there for all of my purchases. Even if it was a GW store. Here all we have is Gundam, Model Cars, and pornographic cartoon figures. It's Fraggin ridiculous when the closest store that sells GW is 150+ miles away!

for me its not a problem at all as long as the store is not solely a table top/miniature store. i buy my miniatures online, but the store i play in hold weekly tournaments for magic the gathering or any other trading card game. the owner tells me he gets a huge bulk from those MTG players than from warhammer players and he's actually expanding his store space.

in total, i'd support my store if warhammer was the only business they did, but there are just too many mtg fans that support him, not that its a bad thing. lol

I dont play in stores so no it doesnt bother me.

If I did I would feel inclined to spend more in store. As it stands I do buy in local stores but larger purchases i usually go online for a discount.

This is actually an impulse game, believe it or not. As expensive as it is, people hanging around a gaming store watching others paint and/or play will get the itch and wander over to a shelf. If it's fully stocked with pretty, multi-part plastic kits or shiny new releases, something will get bought. I, for one, enjoy buying something off of the shelf and not having to wait for it to arrive in the mail, likely damaged in shipping somehow. Most people would rather see it and have it now, perhaps even assembling it while still in the store, instead of waiting 5-7 days for it to arrive in the mail. Plus, it brings back childhood emotions of coming home from the toy store with something new and fun.

Brick and mortar stores around the Midwest (United States), seem to all go through the same cyclical problems and eventual downfalls. They claim that GW products are expensive to keep in stock, so they stop ordering for a while. Then the people who did buy will stop coming in because nothing new is ever on the shelf. This causes fewer gamers to come in and play as their friends haven't been building armies in a while, and eventually the store runs a massive close out on the product to get rid of it. The store manager/owner will then claim that they did everything right, Games Workshop stuff just "doesn't sell", or "nobody is playing it around here."

I have personally witnessed this in four stores in the same city, and heard of it happening in at least a dozen other locations. If the game/hobby isn't promoted, people will lose the itch. If there's no buzz, no new customers will get into it, and the veterans have already relegated themselves to online stores which are almost always in stock. When it's not flying off of the shelves, there's no reason to order more, and people stop coming for it. Eventually, Magic: the Gathering is the only thing keeping the store afloat.

(I love that game by the way, as the competition is some of the most challenging and rewarding of any game in the world. It's resultant success goes without saying.)

It's a shame too, because every time I feed a little of my business advice to the owner's of my local FLGS, they do something right and have a good month. Soon, they go right back to doing what they did before and hit bad stretches. It is also common for gaming store owners to allow their personal hobby preferences to take over what is kept in stock, as many of them are gamers first, and business people second.

I think it's more than buying GW products from stores instead of online: it's an overall business support system of using our own ability to advertise and draw people to the store, while also encouraging the store managers to promote and stock the games.

@brassangel: Exactly. There is no duty to support any store, regardless of the role it may, or may not play in your hobby. The store exists to support itself, and if it is able to it will stay open. The problem isn't prices or customer loyalty, but a lack of business acumen on the part of most game store owners.

The most succesful gaming store I've ever seen is Challenge Games in Joliet. They succeeded by diversifying their inventory so as to support any niche hobby popular in the area. When it was at its most diverse they were selling paintball/airsoft products alongside skateboarding gear and Warhammer minis. One of the most interesting places to sit a people watch I've ever run across.